FDA Concludes "Inconclusive" for Schizophrenia Drug Zyprexa Relprevv and Patients' Death

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded a review of a study undertaken to determine the cause of elevated levels of the injectable schizophrenia drug Zyprexa Relprevv (olanzapine pamoate) in two patients who died. 

The study results were inconclusive. We are unable to exclude the possibility that the deaths were caused by rapid, but delayed, entry of the drug into the bloodstream following intramuscular injection. The study suggested that much of the drug level increase could have occurred after death, a finding that could explain the extremely high blood levels found in the two patients who died 3 to 4 days after receiving injections of appropriate doses of Zyprexa Relprevv. On the basis of all of the information reviewed, we are not recommending any changes to the current prescribing or use of Zyprexa Relprevv injection at this time. Patients should not stop receiving treatment without first talking to their health care professionals.

Treatment with Zyprexa Relprevv may help improve the symptoms of schizophrenia, which include hearing voices, seeing things that are not there, and being suspicious or withdrawn. The labeling for Zyprexa Relprevv carries a boxed warning, FDA’s most serious type of warning, for post-injection delirium sedation (PDSS). PDSS is a serious condition with signs and symptoms consistent with olanzapine overdose, in particular, sedation (including coma), delirium, or both. In clinical trials, cases of PDSS were observed within 3 hours after giving an intramuscular injection of Zyprexa Relprevv, although no deaths were reported. To reduce the risk of PDSS, there is also a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for Zyprexa Relprevv to ensure that patients are observed by health care professionals at a certified facility following injection.

Following the deaths of the two patients who received appropriate doses of Zyprexa Relprevv, FDA requested the drug’s manufacturer, Eli Lilly and Company, to conduct an animal study to test whether movement of olanzapine into blood after death could lead to higher-than-expected blood levels of the drug. The study showed that some animals had increases in drug levels in the blood after death, which could account for the higher-than-expected blood levels found in the two patients who died. For more information please visit: Zyprexa Relprevv

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